The free two-day festival will take place in downtown Norman on Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25. Saturday performances will take place at night inside downtown venues, while Sunday performances will take place all day on stages set up on Main Street and inside downtown venues. NMF is for all ages and FREE!

More than 30,000 people attended the 2009 edition of the festival, with an estimated $2.5 million being spent locally.

With the sophomore edition of the Norman Music Festival last spring, the college town rocked harder than ever before.

And the $2.5 million it contributed to the economy in new dollars didn’t hurt, either.

The 2010 version of NMF cranks up April 24-25, and organizers hope to bring in even more people – and, therefore, even more money to the surrounding community – for a third go-round.

“I’m expecting bigger and better,” says Quentin Bomgardner, NMF committee chair president. “I think we’re going to hit 120 bands, all free. Being free is very valuable to quick success. So is having quality acts that people are interested to see – not just national and regional, but local are big draws as well.”

At last year’s festival, Bomgardner says Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau volunteers combed the streets to poll attendees on their home ZIP codes. Analysis of that data revealed roughly how much money festivalgoers poured into the city.

In a May 2009 memo to organizers, Stephen Koranda, NCVB executive director, wrote, “Based upon industry estimates and calculations, the Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates the new dollars Norman Music Festival attendees brought to Norman is $2,553,750.”

“I think the statistics on the festival’s impact are spot-on, and we’ll continue to positively affect the surrounding economy. People aren’t spending money on tickets to our festival, which means more money in their pockets,” says Holly Jones, NMF public relations committee chair. “Much of the attribution of the success of NMF is that we have created a fun, free environment for every age group, and a variety of genres to listen to all in one day.”

For this month’s event, the tunes have been expanded across two days, beginning Saturday night and all day Sunday, in order to not interfere with retail, Bomgardner says. Most Saturday acts will be indoors, while Sunday’s will play on outdoor stages.

The festival also falls on the same weekend as Oklahoma City’s venerable Festival of the Arts. While Bomgardner admits some overlap in interest may exist, forcing some to choose one over the other, Jones doesn’t see a disadvantage either way.

“We are both promoting the arts in Oklahoma, as well as helping our local economies,” she says.

Best of Fest

Norman Music Festival’s Quentin Bomgardner previews some of this year’s main-stage bands.

Dirty Projectors: “That’s our indie credibility act. They’re a very interesting band and have worked with people like Björk and David Byrne.”

Electric Six: “They’re a little under the radar in the U.S., but still stars. I think they’re going to make a lot of fans in Norman because they’re so fun.”

The Sword: “They’re in that stoner-psych metal genre that’s made a comeback. These could be Ozzy Osbourne’s kids. They’re as good as it gets.”

Edan: “He’s experimental, indie hip-hop out of Brooklyn. I’m pretty excited about that. He makes some very interesting music, and we’ve never had hiphop on the main stage.”

Grupo Fantasma: “They are a 15-piece, really impressive Latin act out of Austin. We tried to have them the first year. Then they got a phone call from Prince.”

Crowd Sourced
An estimated 25,000 people attended the 2009 Norman Music Festival. Of that number …
56% from Norman
33.5% from within 100 miles of Norman
6% from outside the state
4.5% from Oklahoma, but more than 100 miles from Norman
SOURCE: Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau

[…] weeks. Oklahoma bands are in bold. You can view the previously announced bands here, here, here and here. Eagle Claw, Dikes of Holland, The Cassingles, The Stuffies, Indian Jewelry, Psychedelic Horseshit, […]